


What to Fight For

by misssunnybluesky



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M, Implied Jon Snow/Sansa Stark, POV Sansa Stark, Protective Siblings, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Season 8, sansa/arya/bran siblings ftw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 00:24:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15829968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misssunnybluesky/pseuds/misssunnybluesky
Summary: The dragons had arrived to claim Winterfell. Two dragons in the sky and the mother of dragons before her. But, she stood tall, because this was her home. Arya. Bran. Ghost. Herself. Jon. They were five wolves, a pack, and winter was a time for wolves. That’s all that mattered.Inspired by the 3s teaser featuring The Hug





	1. Family

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is to set up the reunion. It takes place after Sansa receives the letter from Jon telling her he has bent the knee, but before her conversation with Littlefinger. 
> 
> Some creative license was taken with the plot, but is mostly TV Show canon.

Sansa told Arya and Bran about Jon bending the knee and coming to Winterfell with Daenerys Targaryen a few hours after she had received the letter and after she had time to think about its contents. They were privately meeting in her solar discussing Littlefinger's plots, and this was one more factor they needed to consider. It was a piece of information they needed to control because she knew Littlefinger would try to use it against Jon; just as he had tried to use the letter she had once written to Robb to pit Arya against her.

Bran did not seem surprised when she revealed the letter's content and had only said, "Some things should not have been; but, alas, it is as it has to be." She wasn’t sure if that comforted her or made her feel even more uneasy; but, when she prodded him with more questions, his response had been "I’m sorry, I can’t tell you any more. That is all I can see for now."

Arya stepped back with a flinch when Sansa read Jon’s letter aloud. "He didn’t do it," her sister immediately said. Arya took the scroll from Sansa, reading it over and over, her expression changing from frustration to denial as she understood the words she read. 

"I know him. He wouldn’t do it," Arya insisted, still looking down at Jon’s writing. Sansa and Bran were silent, unable to deny the words written on the scroll. After a moment of hesitation, Arya looked up to her siblings resolutely. "He wouldn’t do it. _Unless_ he had to" Then, looking directly at Sansa she said, " You know that."

Arya was right. Sansa knew. When Sansa first read the letter, she had not been pleased to learn that Jon had given up their hard-won home to Daenerys Targaryen, a woman who, as far as she knew, wanted the throne of the Seven Kingdoms but had no love for the North or understanding of their people the way that Jon, her family, and the Northerners did. That’s how she knew Jon wouldn’t do something that extreme unless he had to. And, if he had made that choice, then his decision must have been constrained by time or opportunity. He would not have had the ability or time to consult such sensitive matters with her through letters that took weeks to be delivered and that could be easily intercepted. Sansa didn’t have to love all of Jon’s decisions, but they all loved him. And, she trusted him. She only hoped that he had listened to her advice before he left; the south was a dangerous place for Northerners and Northern Kings. She hoped that Jon had carefully considered his words before speaking, and had thought about the various consequences of his actions before doing. She had warned him not to make the same mistakes her father and brother had made before him. 

"I will admit I was not pleased to hear this news, but you are right Arya. We must read this letter in context. It is a brief letter written in difficult circumstances, I’m sure. There is nothing we can do but continue to prepare for the war as we have been doing and wait. In only a matter of weeks, Jon will be here, and he will explain. As for Littlefinger, I’m sure he will be thrilled to hear this news. I will share this with him, and let him believe that the Lady of Winterfell has been betrayed by the King in the North."

"What will you tell the Lords and Ladies?" Arya asked.

"I will have to tell them exactly what is in the letter, and I will have to do it soon or they will feel slighted, and then it will be worse. They will not like it. The entire North will not like it," Sansa said, already imagining the difficult task that lay before her. "We know little of her or about her, but I had hoped that Daenerys Targaryen, out of everyone, would understand what freedom and independence means to a people. If she did, she would not have asked Jon to bend the knee. She would have understood what she was asking Jon and the North to give up."

"Doesn't she call herself the Breaker of Chains?" Arya chimed in. "Her help ought to have come more willingly, not at the cost of the North and of our home. Jon went to her in good faith, she could have asked to work together, as allies, as equals. Maybe then she could have even earned our support. Perhaps those stories about her were merely the facade of a conqueror."

They looked to Bran for confirmation that they were thinking and doing as they ought to, but he remained pensive and quiet. 

"In any case, we must plan for multiple possibilities, always," Sansa continued. "The North might be willing to begrudgingly accept her help now that the war is at our doorstep, especially when not doing so would guarantee our ultimate demise, but the cost is too high. Even if we survive thanks to her help, it will be done at the expense of the North."

Arya nodded in acknowledgment. "I know we need Daenerys Targaryen and her armies if we are to survive the White Walkers, but...--"

"We also need dragon glass and her dragons. Daenerys is instrumental in the war to come," Bran finally said. 

"That may be, but she is also a threat to our home and to us," Arya argued. "We must plan for that threat and mitigate the risks. What if the North does not do as they’re bid to do? What if one day she decides that the North is not obedient enough? Will she use her dragons against us?"

"The North was born as its own Kingdom. It will always want its independence. The people will not accept a Targaryen ruler, not in the long run. We must act accordingly now, but plan ahead for what is to come, even for the eventuality that we win the oncoming war, as unlikely as that might seem now." Sansa understood what needed to be done. She had already started making plans for when the time came. Still, she was scared of what that meant exactly. "I just fear that the North will not understand what Jon has done and that now or later, they will crucify him for bending the knee."

"Not if we stand behind him," Arya responded fiercely.

"And we will," Sansa assured. "But, even when we stand behind him, they will not trust him and might turn him away as their leader. That’s why we must make alternate plans to ensure Jon’s future. Our future."

"They will. They must. He has led them this far; he is their only chance. He might no longer be the King in the North, but he is the Warden of the North. The Lords owe him their allegiance," Arya defended.

"That may not be the case always," Bran broke his silence again. "There might come a time when the North will not owe allegiance to Jon. There might come a time when the North will look for another leader, someone who is more aligned with the Stark line. Nothing is for sure, but it might be then that the North's allegiance will waiver or will go to someone else entirely."

"But, Jon is a Stark. He will always be a Stark," Sansa said firmly. "We would never contest that, no matter what. You do not want your claim, and Arya and I would never seek to take that away from Jon." Arya nodded accepting the statement as truth. 

"There is only Jon," Sansa continued. "They would be mistaken to think--"

"No, there will always be you." Bran interrupted looking at Sansa. "It is true, I do not want my claim as Eddard Stark’s heir, and Arya would never take it, but _you_ \--"

"I do not want it either." Sansa defended herself. She did not like what her brother was implying. "I wouldn’t do that to Jon. I would never take claim of the North if it meant that Jon would lose his title. I’m the Lady of Winterfell, and that is all--"

"You are the Lady of Winterfell, and that is enough. You have ruled the North in Jon's absence, and you have done it well. The time may come when you might need to stand strong and claim the North for yourself, as Ned Stark’s oldest trueborn surviving child. You have not bent the knee to Daenerys Targaryen, and that with your Stark blood alone would rally the North and its allies to your side."

Bran’s words had rendered both Arya and Sansa completely silent. He spoke of a possibility that she hoped would never be. 

"Tell me sister," Bran continued "Would you do it if it meant keeping Jon a Stark? If it meant keeping him safe? Keeping the North safe?"

In her heart, Sansa knew she would do it for Jon, for her family, for her home. She would do anything to keep those she loved safe. Anything to keep Jon safe.


	2. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This second chapter takes place when Jon comes back to Winterfell.

"They’re here" Arya said, but what Sansa really heard was _Jon’s here_. She quickly followed her sister out of her solar, walking as fast as she dared with Ghost following close behind. The servants and bannermen, about in a frenzy with final preparations and having just heard the news, stepped out of her way while others followed her into the courtyard. It was a brisk morning outside despite the shining sun, and it had already started to snow. The masses of people already gathered moved to let her and Ghost pass through while bowing to her slightly as she walked towards the front. She noticed Lyanna Mormont and Lord Royce already at one side while Alys Karstark, little Ned Umber, and Lord Manderly stood at the other. Arya was already at the front of the group waiting, with Bran by her side. 

Taking her place next to Arya, her heart was surprisingly still even while her mind raced through all the possibilities of what could take place in the next few minutes. She noticed, however, that her sister was tapping her foot on the ground as if counting down every second before Jon and his companions emerged through the gate. "I saw him riding at the front of the caravan. He was approaching fast. The others lagged too far behind to be more than dots on the horizon. He looked well, we mustn't worry." Arya spoke quickly looking straight ahead. Sansa knew her sister was trying to reassure herself; Arya was more nervous and worried than she let on. Since they had received the letter announcing Jon’s return with Daenerys Targaryen, Arya had patrolled the battlements day and night, refusing to come down for meals or sleep, just so she would be the one to see him first. For weeks, Sansa took food and warm furs to her sister for comfort, and in her spare time, she also sat with Arya in the watchtower or walked the battlements with her, sometimes in silence and oftentimes recounting stories of their past. She understood the long wait, although differently, she experienced it too. 

Now, her little sister stood at her side looking up at her. "He almost looked like father from afar. Do you think he will know my face when he sees me?" Arya asked quietly so only she could hear, her face showing doubt for the briefest moment. 

"I knew it was you even before I found you in the crypts, and we were never close," Sansa said, hoping to end her sister’s doubts with her words.

"Until now," Arya responded, a smile at her lips. 

"Until now," Sansa agreed. They were close now, sisters in a way they should have always been. "I knew my sister when I had not seen her for so many years. He will know his family too. He knew who I was when he first saw me, and Jon and I were even more apart than you and I ever were. But _you_ and Jon, he could never forget _you_. You know he always loved you best." She smiled after seeing her sister’s brow relax. 

Interrupted by the sound of fast approaching hoofbeats, they both looked up, and seconds later, a figure clad in black rode in. _Jon_. His weary eyes found hers as his horse came to a stop. She broke eye contact, leading his gaze to her side and nodding slightly towards Arya and Bran. His gaze followed, and a smile immediately broke across his face. Even before his boots had hit the ground, Ghost was at his side. Jon greeted the wolf, his words soft, but she still heard, " Ghost, I missed you. You watched over her, over all of them. You did good boy." As she looked between Jon and her siblings, she found his eyes on her for a brief moment once more before he fully turned to Arya and Bran.

Arya approached Jon, stopping short before him. Then, unable to wait any longer, she jumped into Jon’s arms with her arms around his neck. Jon lifted Arya off the ground and swung her around. Both were engulfed in laughter, Arya’s eyes shining and Jon’s warm smile replacing the worry in his eyes. For a second, Sansa remembered when she had reunited with Jon for the first time in Castle Black. How happy and relieved she had felt to see him.

Sansa had not seen Jon or Arya happier than at that moment, a smile invaded her face while a tear threatened to scape. Jon set Arya on the ground, rested his hands on her shoulders and took a good look, their eyes never disconnecting. 

Arya spoke first. "I’ve missed you, Jon. No matter where I was, I missed you."

Jon hugged Arya again, even tighter, and smiled wider "Aye, I have missed you too little sister. Every day."

Their words were simple, but they carried more meaning than it was possible to convey. 

Jon approached Bran next, leaning down to embrace him. Sansa heard Bran’s stoic voice "It is good to see you Jon. I’ve been waiting for your return. We have much to speak of. It cannot wait. "

Jon glanced at Sansa as if looking for an explanation for Bran’s drastically changed demeanor. She only shook her head, she would explain later. They all would. 

Arya stood next to Jon with her gaze fixed on him as if afraid that he would disappear if she stood too far from him or took her eyes off of him for even a second. Jon, still leaning down, was whispering in Bran’s ear. Bran was almost smiling. Arya had started to relax, and she was beaming. Ghost laid at their feet, unwilling to move away from his master. This was the way it was supposed to be. Her family together in Winterfell. Safe and happy. She had lost too much already, but she knew she still had so much more to lose. And at that moment, fear gripped her heart making her shiver. She would not lose her family, her home, or her people again. She would fight for all of them. They were hers to protect. 

The masses of people around her were solemnly and quietly observing the scene unfold until Jon finally stood tall and turned her way. She had already told the North that their King had bent the knee. Despite fierce opposition and dissent, she had managed to convince the Lords and Ladies to agree to name Jon Warden of the North and give him the opportunity to explain his decision and hear their grievances before any further decisions were made. 

As he approached her, his expression was full of worry and doubt again, he looked defeated. Then, he stood there, arms at his sides, facing her and facing his people. He stepped closer, tentatively stopping a few feet away. Behind her, she sensed tension as everyone seemed to be looking to her reaction for guidance. But, he looked at her, and only her. His carefree smile had been replaced by something somber and sad. _Fear_. Fear of the consequences of what he had done. Fear that she would turn him away. Fear that she would call him a traitor. " Sansa, I..." Jon said taking a deep breath. All she could think was _Jon had come back North. Jon had come back home. To Winterfell, to them, to ..._

" I know..." she mouthed breathlessly. There was much to tell him and much to ask, but they would talk later. At that moment, nothing more needed to be said. She lifted her arms open and slightly nodded her head. He took her invitation, walking to her hurriedly as if he feared she might change her mind; a softened and relieved look in his eyes when she did not. Then his arms were around her, his face buried in her neck, his hands at her back pulling her in. Jon was truly home now, it wasn’t until she had him in her arms that she also felt it in her heart. So, she too, with her arms around his shoulders, pulled him close. 

As they continued to embrace, she heard the commotion at the gate. Lifting up her eyes from Jon’s shoulder, she saw the rest of them arrive. Many strangers, but some she recognized right away. Brienne, Podrick, and Davos, she was glad to see. But, there was also Tyrion, Varys, and a beautiful silver-haired woman she immediately knew to be Daenerys Targaryen. She felt their eyes watching her and Jon and saw them speaking amongst themselves. Her siblings to her side were watching the new arrivals intently as well. She knew this moment had ended. She lowered her arms letting Jon go and put distance between them. Yet, as he stepped next to her, he already seemed lighter in spirit and more in command than when he had first arrived. 

The dragons had arrived to claim Winterfell. Two dragons in the sky and the mother of dragons before her. But, she stood tall, because this was her home. Arya. Bran. Ghost. Herself. Jon. They were five wolves, a pack, and winter was a time for wolves. That’s all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it. I hope I did that characters justice, and I hope you guys liked it. I'm still deciding whether or not to continue this story into what I think will happen in S8. Comments/questions are always welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Jonsa fandom. I could not stop scrolling through Tumblr after seeing the hug clip. I was just so inspired. 
> 
> This is the very first fic I have written, so any comments or constructive criticism is welcomed! You can find me on tumblr by the same user name "misssunnybluesky"


End file.
